Page 28 - AA 2022 YEAR BOOK

Iraq

AGRICULTURE STRATEGIES IN IRAQ

THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE PLAN UNDERSTANDING

OF THE BEST COMBINATION OF PRODUCTION AND IMPORT

DECISIONS NEEDED TO MEET THE COUNTRY’S DEMANDS

Grain and Feed Annual Wheat Production, Supply, and Demand Statistics
Except for wheat, MY 2021/22 Iraq Wheat 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022
grain production is expected to fall on
reduced planned planted area as early Market Begin Year Jul 2019 Jul 2020 Jul 2021
intermittent rainfall puts a strain on
USDA
USDA
USDA
limited water resources. MY 2020/21 Iraq Off cial New Post Off cial New Post Off cial New Post
surplus production of barley led the
Iraqi government to announce plans Area Harvested (Ha) 2400 2350 2400 2945 3488
for exporting large volumes of this Beginning Stocks 866 887 616 1187 1595
crop, however this has been put on hold Production 4800 6600 4635 6238 7260
for the time being. Water availability MY Imports 2050 2050 2600 1870 1700
in summer 2021 may jeopardize the TY Imports 2050 2050 2600 1870 1700
production of rice and corn. Iraq’s TY Imp. from U.S. 52 52 0 0 0
financial crisis resulting from the
decline of the international oil prices Total Supply 7176 9537 7851 9295 10555
and the devaluation of the Iraqi Dinar MY Exports 0 0 0 0 0
will negatively impact its to support to TY Exports 0 0 0 0 0
farmers, but the consumption of grain Feed and Residual 400 1150 400 700 850
and feed is expected to rise as a result FSI Consumption 6700 7200 6800 7000 7600
of population growth. The crisis has also Total Consumption 7100 8350 7200 7700 8450
encouraged more investment in the Ending Stocks 616 1187 651 1595 2105
agriculture sector compared to other Total Distribution 7716 9537 7851 9295 10555
sectors which have weakened during
this time. Yield 2.00 2.81 1.93 2.12 2.08
Production (1000 HA), (1000 MT), (MT/HA)
needed to meet the country’s demands. Consumption:
Post estimates wheat production The MOA gives farmers incentives to
in market year (MY) 2021/2022 to be follow the plan by allowing them to Post estimates MY 2021/22 total
7.26 million metric tons (MMT) on access subsidized inputs as well as to consumption to reach 8.45 MMT based
expanded planned planted area. Post improved marketing through the Grain on the 2021 population estimate of Iraq
revises its wheat production estimate Board of Iraq. In MY 2020/21, farmers and its growth rate and eating habits.
for MY 2020/2021 from 6 to 6.2 MMT operating within the plan received Ongoing annual consumption drawn
based on official data. It was anticipated subsidized seeds at a rate of 30 KG from the Public Distribution System
that COVID-19 restrictions would per donum (approximately 120 KG/ and the import of wheat and flour for
negatively impact wheat production Ha). Post predicts that the MY 2021/22 different purposes contributes to the
in MY 2020/2021 by limiting access government policy will remain the consumption rate as well. Post is revising
to fields, but in the end, this had little same as the previous season regarding down MY 2020/21 total consumption to
effect. Favorable weather conditions the purchasing of the wheat grain. This 7.7 MMT based on market observations.
also contributed to this. Moreover, the is also dependent on oil prices and its
availability of both rainfall and irrigation impact on Iraq’s financial resources. The Ministry of Trade (MOT) in
water in the upper regions contributed cooperation with the World Food
to the larger wheat harvest. Post is also MOA’s plan for MY 2021/22 was to Program launched a new program
revising down MY 2020/21 wheat area plant 2.62 million hectares of wheat where PDS distribution agents will
from 3.1 to 2.9 million hectares based throughout Iraq, in both rain fed and use fingerprints instead of the paper
on official data from the Iraqi Ministry of irrigated zones. This plan did not include ration supply card called Al Butaka Al
Planning (MOP) Central Statistics Office the area in Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG) where
(CSO). Table 2 lists the production, an additional 826,012 hectares was
average yield, and area for MY 2020/21. planned for wheat. The plan increases
planted area in central and southern Iraq
Agriculture Strategies in Iraq by about 370,000 hectares over last year,
most of it in the rain fed zone. Planting
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) is still ongoing especially in the rain fed
annual plan lays out the ministry’s zone which constitutes the major part of
understanding of the best combination Iraq’s wheat crop and output depends
of production and import decisions on the rainfall conditions.

26 Arab Agriculture 2022